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Becoming tumor registrar in 2001 at Tift Regional Medical
Center, a regional community hospital in Tifton, GA with 191
licensed beds and 161 acute care beds, marked a career change
for Marilyn Richardson. Not only was registry new, but she had
never before worked in a hospital offering oncology services.
Within just three years, however, her solo effort in reducing
the registry backlog became a driving force that earned Tift
accreditation from the American College of Surgeons. It also was
an important factor that earned Richardson recognition as
IMPAC’s 2004 Registrar of the Year.
A History of Making a Difference
After growing up in a small Georgia town, Richardson began
working at a local hospital where she became interested in
medical records. With no nearby school offering training in that
field, she completed a correspondence course and in 1976 became
credentialed as a Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT).
Serving for the next twenty years as director
of medical records at Irwin County Hospital, she then spent two
years auditing DRG assignments for the Georgia Medical Care
Foundation before spending another seven years as a director of
medical records at Dorminy Medical Center.
EMRs: A Boon to Medical Records and
Registry
“Traveling to
regional centers made me recognize that while hospitals have
unique problems, they share similar medical records issues,”
said Richardson. “It is essential to get physicians to document
appropriately, accurately, and in a timely fashion. Anything
that helps them benefits all of us, so the more hospitals move
toward electronic medical records (EMRs), the faster registrars
can abstract cases to accomplish registry tasks. Acquiring an
electronic record means that we no longer wait for medical
records to be pulled or completed and can immediately access
demographics, diagnostic results and track treatment online. The
IMPAC registry system gives us the ability to store and retrieve
oncology data and enhances the registry’s position as a valuable
resource for our cancer program.”
Training, In Class and Out
During her first two years as a registrar, Richardson trained in
cancer registry at Emory University School of Public Health.
Equally helpful, she believes, was the support she received from
others in the field. “Registrars have an amazing willingness to
help a new person, providing resources and just cheering along.
I couldn’t have accomplished what I did without the support of
other registrars in the field and a supportive manager who
provided everything I needed, enabling me to make a difference,”
said Richardson, who obtained her CTR credential in her second
year at Tift. While addressing Tift’s registry backlog, she
also, with the assistance of outside contract companies,
abstracted current cases to compile the two years’ worth of data
required for a survey for the Commission on Cancer (COC) survey,
completed in December 2003. As a result, Tift received 3-year
accreditation to Tift Regional's Oncology Program in 2004.
Richardson is now training another newly hired employee in
registry functions and plans for her to become credentialed to
help ensure that Tift will maintain accreditation.
Registry—Not Just for Reporting
“Reporting is essential,” said Richardson, “but the information
registrars collect also provides medical staff with valuable
data, such as the types of cancer in a facility, the treatments
provided, and survival rates. This helps facilities determine if
more screening is needed in their community and allows them to
benchmark themselves against national data. At Tift, registry
information is presented at twice monthly cancer conferences,
and in an annual report each year. Medical staff and others can
also request information at any time. Richardson noted, “Tift
has always provided good oncology care. Now it also has the
certification that ensures patients of the excellence of our
standards.” |
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Marilyn Richardson, CTR, RHIT, Tift Regional Medical Center,
Tifton, Georgia |
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